Residents of seven districts of Bangkok have been told to move valuables to higher ground and be ready to evacuate, as flooding which has swamped northern Thailand approaches the capital.

The United States says it is appointing a new top envoy for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), ahead of a rare meeting with the country's nuclear negotiators next week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy on October 19 to discuss a solution to the eurozone debt crisis, but failed to reach any concrete agreement on the issue.

A general strike is under way in Greece, grounding flights, halting most public services and shutting offices and shops.

Senior leaders of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) on October 18 held talks with visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who pledged efforts to help rebuild the war-torn country.

Kurdish guerrillas killed 24 Turkish soldiers in attacks on military posts in southeastern Turkey early on October 19, the biggest single death toll for Turkish security forces in years.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has announced an assistance package worth up to AUD5.15 million to help flood victims in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines.

The United Nations says ongoing floods in Southeast Asia are triggering a humanitarian crisis.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Libya on October 18 to urge its disparate militias to unite around their new leaders, while loyalists of ousted Muammar Gaddafi launched a counter-attack in his hometown of Sirte.

President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw some US troops from Afghanistan this year will take soldiers out of the country's restive east, where battles between foreign troops and militants suspected in high-profile attacks increasingly make it the war's focus, a top US commander said on October 18.